Whitney Houston made the phrase “show me the receipts” famous in her 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer and in B.B. King’s ‘70s hit “Nobody Loves Me But My Mother,” the music legend flat out said even his mother could be “jivin too.” It’s that kind of amusing skepticism that makes lawyers and journalists have an instant bond. We don’t just want to hear verbal talk of ideas, compliments with hidden agendas or handshake agreements. We prefer fact-checking, documented conversations and signatures, please and thank you.

Lawyers and journalists are under immense pressure to be ethical, credible, hard-working and to keep a stellar reputation. Naturally, there would be synergy between a lawyer and journalist who realized those two worlds could come in handy for legal news tips.